That FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot Is Still On, And The CHRONICLE Director May Helm It

Josh Trank is Fox's number one choice to bring back Marvel's First Family.

How serious is Fox about rebooting Fantastic Four? This is a real question; the studio has had a reboot kicking around for a little while now, but there's not been much action. Why would they keep slowly developing the property? The answer is pure Hollywood: they wouldn't want Marvel Studios to get the rights back and produce a hit movie that would make them look bad. Now I don't know what the exact conditions are Fox must meet to keep the property - do they have to actually shoot something, or can they just keep it in development forever by ordering scripts and hiring directors?

The seriousness of Fox's reboot plans is the context through which we must look at this bit of news: Chronicle director Josh Trank is their choice to direct the film. Chronicle is the upcoming found footage movie about three pals who get super powers; Fox has screened footage, but nobody has seen the full film yet. Apparently they're high on the movie, so hopefully they'll show it to people soon.

Trank isn't hired yet, but insiders tell Variety he's totally the studio's choice. I don't know what that means; is Fox looking for a grittier aesthetic with the reboot? Is Fox keeping Trank around on this project they need to keep in development hell until such time as they find something else for him? If the studio is hot on Chronicle, putting Trank on Fantastic Four could be an indicator that the studio is actually serious about giving the franchise another shot (although I don't think they'll pull any triggers until they see how The Amazing Spider-Man does).

On our end there's no telling whether Trank would be a good director for the film or not, especially since we have no idea what tone or feel they're going for. And so another round of 'slowly developing Fantastic Four' has begun. We'll see if this one gets us any closer to a movie.

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